This blog is written in response to the thinking activity given to us based on the poem The Rape of the Lock by Vaidehi Ma'am 

THE RAPE OF THE LOCK

The Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope. The poem of The Rape of the Lock satirizes a minor incident of life, by comparing it to the epic world of the gods, and is based on an event recounted to Alexander Pope by his friend John Caryll. Arabella Fermor and her suitor, Lord Peter, each was member of an aristocratic recusant Catholic family, at a time in England when, under such laws as the Test Act, all denominations except Anglicanism suffered legal restrictions and penalties. Peter had cut off a lock of Arabella's hair without permission, and the consequent argument had created a breach between the two families. The poem's title does not refer to the extreme of sexual rape, but to an earlier definition of the word derived from the Latin rapere (supine stem raptum), "to snatch, to grab, to carry off"—in this case, the theft and carrying away of a lock of hair

Here is a video of summary and characters so that you can easily understand the answers written further.

1. According to you, who is the protagonist of the poem Clarissa or Belinda? Why? Give your answer with logical reasons.

Character sketch of Belinda

In this poem we can see that Belinda is representative of 18th century England's female society. The protagonist of the poem, Belinda, is a wealthy and beautiful young woman who travels to Hampton Court for a day of socializing and leisure. Her beauty was like-

“If to her share some female errors fall,

Look on her face, and you’ll forget all”

We see Belinda in many different lights; It will be wrong to regard her purely as a goddess, or as a pretty spoiled child, or as a flirt. She is a combination of all three. We see her as a vamp, an injured innocent, a sweet charmer, a society belle, a rival of the sun, and a murderer of millions. Despite the fact that Belinda is Pope’s protagonist, she’s actually a bit of a slippery character to come to terms with, as the reader is provided with relatively little access to her inner thoughts, and her actions are often governed by supernatural forces.

“Favours to none, to all she smiles extends

Oft she rejects, but never once offends,”

This line suggests the character of Belinda. Belinda’s character is like a superior female who is more conscious about her beauty and hair. Belinda is a heroine or we can regard as a made heroine/ protagonist of the poem as the whole poem revolves around her. In many lines of the poem we can see the leisure routine she spends. In this poem we see that beauty is connected with hairs. Baron with the help of Clarissa cut the lock of hair which was curled up for a social event, this thing made Belinda mad as beauty was everything to Belinda. At last Belinda was consoled with the suggestion that it has been taken up into the heavens and immortalized as a constellation. Here we feel that Belinda was not mature enough to understand the matters, she needed to be pacified like a child.

“Here Files of Pins extend their shining Rows,

Puff s, Powders, Patches, Bibles, Billet-doux.”

This lines of the poem completely suggests how important cosmetics were to Belinda.

Character sketch of Clarissa

The character of Clarissa solidifies this serious social critique. She scorns the trivialities with which women (and men) occupy themselves.

“How vain are all these Glories, all our Pains,

Unless good Sense preserve what Beauty gains :

at Men may say, when we the Front-box grace,

Behold the first in Virtue as in Face !”

Clarissa points out that beauty quickly fades with age, and extols the virtues of "good humor," which, she says,

“And trust me, dear ! good Humor can prevail,

When Airs, and Flights, and Screams, and Scolding fail.

Beauties in vain their pretty Eyes may roll ;

Charms strike the Sight, but Merit wins the Soul.”

This exclamation, which is perhaps the most significant and revealing passage of the entire poem, is, of course, frowned upon and ignored by the foolish Belinda and the belligerent Thalestris, who is only concerned with the young woman’s honor. While the main female character misses the idea that may have redeemed her, Pope asks the reader to reconsider Clarissa’s statement, since both Belinda and Thalestris are frequently mocked within the poem. The message is clear: social airs, no matter how a lady might acquire them and hold fast to them, do her no credit. She should instead employ her mind and "good humor" to gain respect and favor (perhaps one of Pope’s motives--to appease the woman upon whom this poem was based--is particularly evident in this message.)

Here in this poem we saw that Belinda the protagonist is more on her beauty, a self obsessed character while Clarissa is giving us a way of life. She makes us understand that beauty is temporary, permanent is the good humor way of living and virtues. Beauty fades with time and virtues would last forever. Comparing the mental ability or understanding of both the female character I feel Clarissa is the real protagonist in the poem who is lightening the flames is the women of society for coming out from self obsession of beauty and to make her own space in society with virtues instead of beauty.

2. What is beauty? Write your views about it.

Starting with a literal definition of beauty- a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight. Today we define beauty majorly in relation to looks. Beautiful looks is the only thing which is preferred by everyone. I agree to the point that beauty provides confidence but who decides the rubrics of beauty? How do people differentiate between ugly, beautiful or very beautiful? And the basic answer is on the skin tone, length of hairs, eyes etc. that is all the physical appearance only. And we generally see that the females of society need to look beautiful physically, or else they are judged quickly based on their looks. 

This is a video from Super 30 movie explaining what is beauty with the base of science. 

According to my views, beauty is not in appearance, beauty is internal and mental beauty of the person. ‘The quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.’ If we look at these definitions we can realize that beauty is something which gives pleasure to mind or spirit, so here I argue that why do people think that only physical beauty gives pleasure? Once in a life everyone would have met a person who is not pretty in appearance but we love their company the reason is we love the way of their thinking, their abilities, we get attracted to their mentality.

We do find the same thing in this poem ‘The Rape of The Lock’ Belinda is beautiful and is made protagonist in the poem, but in end when we read the Clarissa’s speech we feel more connected to her. We feel that her point is more reliable and truth that everyone should follow. That is we are attracted to Clarissa for her thoughts and ideas. We also find the same thing in the Mary Shelley Novel ‘Frankenstein’ where the creature was not accepted by society due to his giant appearance. On the other hand, he was more natural and pure of heart than people of society.

The attraction to physical appearance will not last long but the attraction and love to mental appearance will remain forever.

In my view, Inner beauty refers to the personality of a person including his/her mind and character. Whereas outer beauty simply refers to the looks of a person. It can easily be faked and changed through makeup, dressing, surgery etc. But it takes a whole lot of effort and a true heart to maintain your inner beauty in this modern age. So inner beauty is more important and is only beauty.

3. Find out a research paper on "The Rape of the Lock". Give the details of the paper and write down in brief what it says about the Poem by Alexander Pope.

I have read a research paper of Global English Oriented Research Journal ( GEORJ) by Dr. George Kolanchery. This paper is detailing about The Rape of The Lock as a mirror to Pope’s age and society of that time. The frivolities of women folk of that is discussed, Belinda is the representative of the fashionable ladies of that time. There is not the slightest glimpse of seriousness or sincerity, goodness or grandeur of human life in any of their words or actions. Along with, he debates the hollowness of the men of that time, as Belinda Baron represents the class of men of that time and we see that they are idle, empty- minded folk and have nothing to do except love making or flirting with ladies.

After reading this paper I learned that the poem shows the ‘Battle’ between the ladies and the gentlemen showing the emptiness and fertility of their lives. The poem shows the fashionable society of the upper class of that time, Pope’s age. And the Pope very beautifully weaved the incident between Lord Peter and Arabella along with the society of that age describing the colors of that age and on other hand satirizing the society. We see that the people have no other work and are getting ready, looking after their beauty and spending their time playing cards and having gatherings. No English poem is at once so brilliant and so empty as ‘The Rape of the Lock’. It reflects the artificial age with splendour and inward emptiness.

[words count: 1651]

Pride and Prejudice

Hello readers! This blog is written as our Classroom task, based on the Novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Here answers are given to some allotted questions which can be helpful to you for better understanding.

I am placing this video here so that you can get an idea of the story and can understand the answers better.

Which version of the novel is more appealing? Novel or film (adaptation)? Why? Or Compare the narrative strategy of novels and movies.
This novel undoubtedly belongs to the category of the best literary works of all time. The story has been transformed by many screenwriters and directors into film adaptations to bring the people of cinematic eras closer to the atmosphere of the Regency Era in England. A film adaptation is a type of derivative work, describing the transposition of a play, novel, or other literary source to film. A cinematic transfer is the most common practice of literary adaptation.
                                        

The first adaptation of Pride and Prejudice dates back to 1938. The screenplay from 1980 by Fay Weldon Pride and Prejudice directed by Cyril Coke, BBC, is worth noting among traditional adaptations. In this adaptation according to the viewer reviews on The Internet Movie Database the characters ‘are truer to the way they were written by Jane Austen.‘ The most successful adaptation of the 20th century is considered to be Pride and Prejudice directed by Simon Langton, BBC, 1995. Deborah Cartmell (2010a, p. 8) says that this six-part mini-series is mainly focused on Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy showing a different approach to the story that has always been presented as female-centered. The 2005 adaptation Pride and Prejudice, directed by Joe Wright has wagered on the celebrity status – of Keira Knightley as Elizabeth and Judi Dench as Lady Catherine and on intelligently chosen locations.

Joe Wright's 2005 adaptation Pride & Prejudice had more differences from the Jane Austen novel than just changing the time period, making the film more realistic and romantic in the process. One of the biggest changes Joe Wright made to Pride & Prejudice was changing the time period from 1813 to the 1790s.Wright changed the time period because he hated the look of the empire silhouette that was popular in the Regency Era. Keira Knightley's portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet is her best role, and is significantly feistier and more impassioned in Pride & Prejudice than in the original novel. While Knightley's Elizabeth grows apart from Jane over the course of the movie, the two actually become much closer in the book. In the Austen novel, the Bennet family might be down on their luck, but they're still a member of the landed gentry and retain some wealth and status. The Bennet family in Pride & Prejudice is portrayed as much poorer than their novel depiction, partially due to Joe Wright's shifting away from the formal portrayal of the Regency Era by putting the family home in a more rural setting. The Bennet sisters wear worn-out dresses that don't quite match, and the family home is in a state of clear disrepair. Pride & Prejudice also changed the characterization of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet to make them more sympathetic, turning Mr. Bennet into a loving and attentive father, and presenting Mrs. Bennet's machinations with understanding instead of scorn. The Bennet family might be chaotic, but in the film they're still close-knit and loving. Contrasting the clear financial difficulties of the Bennet family with the closeness and love between the sisters and their parents makes them much more relatable to contemporary audiences in the Joe Wright adaptation than the novel.

Part of the challenge of adapting Pride & Prejudice is condensing the novel into a movie. The 1995 BBC miniseries had the luxury of six episodes, and was able to tell the full story — but Joe Wright's adaptation pared the novel down to 127 minutes. However, that meant cutting several minor characters and condensing subplots into a single scene. Part of Joe Wright's approach in his Pride & Prejudice adaptation was turning a decidedly non-visual novel into a stunningly-designed film. The director emphasized romanticism with his visuals, accomplished by moving away from the formality of the Regency Era; as a result, one of the major changes made in the film was to Mr. Darcy's famous proposals. In the novel, Mr. Darcy proposes on the street in the middle of the day. While Jane Austen fans may concede that the changes make for a beautiful film, the approach to these scenes is more stylistically appropriate for Wuthering Heights than Pride & Prejudice.

The single biggest controversy from Pride & Prejudice was Joe Wright's decision not to end the movie with a wedding. Instead, the film ends with a sentimental scene between the now-married Darcy's, enjoying an intimate moment at Pemberley. That decision caused a major backlash from the Jane Austen Society of North America before its release, and the scene was removed from the British release of the film after complaints from the preview audiences.

Looking at these differences we can see that the novel is explaining the storyline in more detail which helps better understanding and holding the interest of a reader. So, in my view novels are better than film adaptations.


Character of Elizabeth

The twenty year-old Elizabeth, sometimes Lizzie, sometimes Eliza, is a most attractive young woman. Not only is she beautiful, with eyes that made her irresistible to Mr. Darcy, but she has an exceptional personality. She is high spirited but self-controlled, always guided by her good sense, which few of the other female characters in the novel have. She is self-assured, outspoken, and assertive, but never rude or aggressive. Elizabeth’s assertiveness and outspokenness would have shocked the readers of the novel when it first came out. Elizabeth Bennet challenges the expected gender norms of her time, particularly when compared with the other females in Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth is willing to express her opinions wherever she is, without fear, and has the confidence openly to challenge the views of those of superior social standing.

Elizabeth also behaves in an unorthodox fashion in her approach to marriage, and in a society where a woman’s security depends on a good marriage, and in a family where for at least one of the daughters finding a husband is a matter of social and economic survival, refuses two advantageous proposals. Her rejection of Darcy, one of the richest men in England’s, first proposal, because she doesn’t like his character and finds the language of his proposal distasteful, is further evidence of her departure from gender norms. Her rejection of marriage on the basis of economic gain and insisting on happiness in marriage, which could only happen by marrying for love, is something those around her – even her father – do not understand, so far away from societal expectations is that idea. Throughout the novel, Elizabeth is faced with many challenges pertaining to her sex and social rank, within a British patriarchy and perhaps, in creating Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Austen has given us English literature’s first feminist.

Her confidence in her own judgment is the thing that leads her to make some almost terminal mistakes and it’s only because of her ability to step back and honestly assess her own behavior that she finally wins through.

In Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Austen has given the world an immortal fictional character, one that we can almost mistake for a real person, in the same way as Shakespeare and Dickens did with some of their characters.


Character of Mr. Darcy

Fitzwilliam Darcy is a very arrogant man of England's upper crust. He is lord of Pemberley, an expensive estate located in the county of Derbyshire. He is fairly tall and handsome, but his demeanor is unfriendly, aloof, and unapproachable.

He has a sister, Georgiana, who adores him, and the feeling is mutual. It seems safe to assume that Darcy is a private man and that his upbringing has highly influenced his opinions of those around him. He is arrogant almost without knowing it, such has been the entitled world he has known.

His ideal of nobility makes Darcy truly change in the novel. When Elizabeth flatly turns down his marriage proposal and tells him that it was ungentlemanly, Darcy is startled into realizing just how arrogant and assuming he has been. In short, Jane Austen sketches Mr. Darcy as the second best character. We know the real Darcy when his tenant defends him or when we know that he saved the Bennet family from disgrace. Thus, Mr. Darcy may not be a perfect person but his character development reveals Jane Austen’s strong art of characterization.


Give illustrations of the society of that time.
The clothing styles reflect the time the illustration was engraved (the 1830s), not the time in which the novel was written or set. Pride and prejudice by Austen's is a detailed portrayal of the social atmosphere of late 18th and early 19th century England and it is principally concerned with all social aspects of English gentry. Marriage was then considered as the way of a woman's security and also it paved the way for a woman to gain property. Austen contains vivid and realistic pictures of the social life of her time -the conventions, the manners, and the mode of living of that time and which are depicted in the novel in a most graphic manner. In the novel we see that money, marriage and the security of a woman are very interrelated. In pride and prejudice, we see that money is essential to begin a marriage.

Here we see that Mrs. Bennet always thinks about their daughters' marriage. "The business of her life was to get her daughters married "and she thinks that could fetch her daughter's wealthy and high status husbands; so marriage becomes a straight and quick way to change their situation. Charlotte Lucas, whose pragmatic views on marrying are voiced several times in the novel: "Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only honorable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want."

Prejudice is another picture in society. Elizabeth was disgusted at Darcy's behavior and formed a prejudice against him. Elizabeth concerns a dislike for Mr. Darcy when she overhears his remark that she is not beautiful enough to dance with him. Her prejudices were increased when Wick ham made a long take of his grievances against Mr. Darcy; she believed every word which Mr. Wickham had said. Her dislike of Mr. Darcy now hardens into hatred due to a prejudice which Mr. Wickham's account was created in her mind. Darcy's cold arrogance and snobbery prejudiced her from him from the beginning and it took Elizabeth a lot longer time to overcome her prejudice.

In the novel, Austen portrays the women's low status and the reasons for women's low status. But they in the novel didn't try to strive for their rights; they thought little of their status. No right of inheritance, such is particularly the case of the Bennet's, a family of five daughters whose father's estate is entailed to a distant relative because women do not have the right to possess his father's property. After Mr. After Bennett's death, they will lose home, land, and income, everything else. Money played in determining a woman's daily life, marriage and destiny.

The women in Austen's age lived in a patriarchal society ,a world in which men held all the advantage. Women could not entail their fathers estate, which has quite iniquitous affairs to the daughters in the Bennet's, as their property was entailed to a distant male heir. Since the law of the then England said that the property of a family should be entailed to a male heir and since the social power of a society was exercised by the male members of the society, marrying to a wealthy man was the only solution for a woman to gain property and, of course, shelter and security. So, when Mrs. Bennet knows Elizabeth's refusal to Mr. Collins , she threatens her –''If you go on refusing every marriage , you will never get a husband , and I am sure I don't know who is to maintain you when your father dies ''-illustrates the point that women have to depend on men throughout their lifetime.

Again in this connection is that assemblies, balls and gossip were the order of the lady . The ladies are the upper middle class, play in the hash ladies and gentlemen play cards or pass the time in held gossip. Listening to news, collecting news and communicating news were the chief interests of the girls and ladies. Thus we see in the novel Mrs. Philips gathers news then it imparts to her nieces.

If you were a director or screenplay writer, what sort of difference would you make in the making of a movie? Who would be your choice of actors to play the role of characters? Write a note on a scene you liked the most.
If I were a director of a movie I would like to change some scenes which I felt were exaggerated. One the scene is when Elizabeth went to the estate of Darcy and saw a statue of Darcy. She was looking at the statue as he is Darcy himself, her eyes showing love for him. But I feel it was too exaggerated. At that moment they didn't have a chemistry or relation between them and that showed one sided love of Elizabeth. No doubt Elizabeth loved Darcy but it is not shown anywhere that it was an intense one sided love.

Also I feel the romantic scene between Elizabeth and Darcy showed a sudden change in their character. They were in love with each other. We saw that but whenever they talked or shared their feelings they were never out of character. Darcy never left his pride aside and Elizabeth's prejudices for Darcy never let her understand him and she never kept aside her and her family self respect. Yes it's true that in the end their misunderstandings got cleared but if we see the character of Darcy he is an introvert he didn't smile throughout the movies but he smiles in the end this brings him out of his character. Throughout the movie Elizabeth is a strong headstrong girl but in the end she melts. If anyone sees only the last scene of a movie one can not determine their characters. So I would like to make a change and keep both characters the same throughout.

I am not fond of Hollywood movies a lot, so I would make a choice of characters from Bollywood movies. Looking at the strong character of Elizabeth, I feel Kananga Ranaut can play her role very well, and Kriti Sanon can too . The role of Jane can be played by Diana Penty. For Mr. Darcy, his introverted pride character Shahid Kapoor, Hritik Roshan and Ajay Devgan can be preferred. For the role of Mr. Bingley Ayushman Khurana and for Wickham Varun Dhawan.

Now moving to the scene I liked the most, the scene in the movie When Mr. Darcy proposed to Elizabeth. The just before scene when Elizabeth is staring at the statue of Darcy we can see her love towards him but when Darcy proposed to her in an insulting tone she chose her self respect and family above her love. I liked this scene from the feminist point of view. We have seen the love Elizabeth but she didn't melt with the proposal and stood at her own point.

Thank you for visiting. I hope this blog was useful to you. If you find any changes or suggestions do comment.

Macbeth - the Tragedy of Ambition

What is the tragedy of ambition?

Tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. And the tragedy caused by a specific ambition is known as tragedy of ambition.

Here, we are going to talk about the Shakespearean drama- Macbeth, in which the ambition of the protagonist brings a lot of suffering and results in the fall of the main character.

Ambition is the driving force of William Shakespeare's tragedy ‘Macbeth’. More specifically, it is about ambition that goes unchecked by any concept of morality; this is why it becomes a dangerous quality. Macbeth’s ambition inspires most of his actions, and that results in the deaths of numerous characters and the ultimate downfall of both himself and Lady Macbeth. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, we discover that Macbeth is a tragic hero. Macbeth is very ambitious, courageous, and a moral coward: all these things lead to his tragic death at the end of the play.

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair.

Hover through the fog and filthy air.”

This means that what seems to be good can turn out to be bad; appearances can be deceiving. Macbeth only sees the good in the situation. He does not see the bad outcomes that can come from his unlimited desire for power. Through this dialogue in the starting of the play the witches foreshadows the downfall in the characters of the play. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a good and brave soldier who gives his loyal service to Scotland. He wins the battle as well as the respect of the King. As a reward the king honors him with the title, the Thane of Cawdor. Ironically, it is precisely this honor that triggers Macbeth’s corrupt thoughts of wrongfully seizing the kingship. The witches’ prophecy that accurately predicted his new title makes him believe that he is indeed destined to be the king as predicted by their second prophecy. He thus sees the promise of much greater rewards. The prophecies and the realization of one of them tempt Macbeth into achieving his ambition at any cost. Yet increasingly his ambition defeated his good nature. When Duncan named Malcolm the Prince of Cumberland, Macbeth decided on the murder of Duncan. From then on, after the murder of Duncan, Macbeth entered into a life of evil.

Here, further we will discuss how the hidden ambition in Macbeth lightened up, how Macbeth tried to control his feelings, tried to choose a path and how his ambition resulted.

Macbeth’s ambition is driven by a number of factors. For one, he has a deep internal desire for power and advancement. However, that is not exactly why he turns to crime. It takes two outside forces to ignite this hunger and push him to take violent action to obtain power.

One of them is Prophecies

FIRST WITCH.

All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!

SECOND WITCH.

All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!

THIRD WITCH.

All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter!

The witches are the real trigger to Macbeth's deep and hidden desires. The presence of the witches raises the battle between good and evil. They challenge Macbeth’s character over the course of the play by giving him three simple prophecies about his life. The witches influence Macbeth in his achievements and awaken his ambitions. They give him a wrong sense of security with their sharing of the truth. The prophecy in the play is like Macbeth will be the king but Malcolm was announced as the next king along with Macbeth’s announcement of being cawder, at this time Macbeth did not show but felt that according to prophecies he should be the king this shows that there was an hidden ambition and prophecies gave him hope. We can interpret that he must have felt that something written in fate can be gained only if we try and as a result he stepped towards downfall.

Other is Lady Macbeth-

In a letter to Lady Macbeth, Macbeth writes about his ambition to be king and to help Macbeth Lady Macbeth plans the King Duncan's murder. At a point in the play, Macbeth was not ready to murder Duncan. But Lady Macbeth pushed him and encouraged Macbeth to put aside his guilt and Kill Duncan. She aimed at the male ego of Macbeth and the plan stepped further. Here in the play we can see Lady Macbeth as the fourth witch in Macbeth’s life.

And live a coward in thine own esteem,

Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,”

Like the poor cat i’ th’ adage?

-Lady Macbeth

MACBETH

[Aside.] If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me

Without my stir.

This dialogue of the play shows that somewhere inside Macbeth is trying to balance between his ambition and morality. Macbeth was afraid that what if they get caught? And refused Lady Macbeth to execute her play. But at that time Lady Macbeth questioned his manhood and called him a coward which outraged Macbeth.

Then further, after killing King Duncan, Macbeth was at climax/ top in his life. But the life one starts with wrong deeds ends worse. From this point the downfall of Macbeth started, Macbeth in order to save the crown and make his own children Kings murdered Banquo and Macduff family, anyone who opposed him was killed.

As a consequence of this dire ambition of Macbeth, a number of innocent people died. Also lady Macbeth kills herself in guilt of murders they did. Near the end of the play, Lady Macbeth sleep walked and had a dream about the killing of Duncan and Banquo. She died because of all this pressure and her guilt about the murder. The Souls of Macbeth have been destroyed since Macbeth loved Lady Macbeth very much.

MACBETH.

Thou losest labour:

As easy mayst thou the intrenchant air

With thy keen sword impress, as make me bleed:

Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests;

I bear a charmed life, which must not yield

To one of women born.

MACDUFF.

Despair thy charm;

And let the angel whom thou still hast serv’d

Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb

Untimely ripp’d.

Macbeth was arrogant of the prophecy that no man born of women can kill him but The power of nemesis is shown clearly at the end of the play when Macduff came back to murder Macbeth. Macbeth would never have guessed that Macduff would come back for revenge for the killing in Macduff’s household. This nemesis shows an additional force beyond Macbeth’s control. Because of Macbeth’s strong beliefs in ambition and the witches, when he found out Macduff was not born of woman, and also found out the Birnam Wood had been seen moving, he realized that the third apparition had deceived him and he understood he was no longer safe.

As we discussed the definition of the tragedy, befall of the main character. Here we see how the Macbeth following his ambition lightened up by prophecies suffered at the end. He lost his all closed one, we can see that if Macbeth would not have murdered Macduff’s family, Macduff would have never come to fight with Macbeth but as it is said no one can win the destiny. What is destined is to happen.

The character of Macbeth presents before us a complexity of its own kind. Among the whole range of Shakespearean plays perhaps Macbeth emerges as the one that blends both good and evil at the same time. The goodness is his inherent quality, but so is the dark desire of becoming King. He further inherits more evil through external sources and internalizes it to apparently fulfill the prophecy but more to realize the ambition of becoming the King. However, the play as it progresses leads us to the world that Macbeth conceives and creates for himself based on what he comes across. He assumes himself to be safe forever, as it is prophesied that he cannot be killed by ‘any man born of woman’ but destiny has an answer in the form of Macduff. The display of great courage by Macbeth has been closely examined by the critics; considering it as his personal attribute and as something induced by the circumstances occupies a central place in discussing the persona of this great Shakespearean anti-hero.

The ambition or pride of Macbeth results in his fall and is seen as the fall of a great man. It refers to the ancient Greek notion of tragedy involving hubris where the hero falls due to his ignorance shrouded by his pride and ambition. The hero may not be pitied for his fall here and the story of Macbeth is a typical case where we do not see any scope for catharsis as his fall is a result of his personal motives. He who is devoid of all the virtues of becoming a king and is not upright all through doesn’t deserve to be a king. And if he attains it by some means, it may not last for long. The tragedy of King Duncan gets translated into a tragedy only for King Macbeth although he becomes the agent of change. Macbeth’s awareness about his crime makes it increasingly difficult for him to live with himself.

The play has been seen to be very close to the Aristotelian model of a classic tragedy. In Aristotelian norms of tragedy, the tragic hero should be a figure high up in the social ladder and his downfall must be because of his tragic flaw (hamartia) and also by the working of fate. In Macbeth, the protagonist is a figure of eminence in Scotland and it is because of his ambition (his tragic flaw) and the role of fate (the three witches) that he becomes the King of Scotland by murdering King Duncan. He goes down a dark path of treachery and violence. His evil act eventually leads to his downfall which makes us take pity on him and also be fearful of fate. Thus, the purgation of feelings of emotions of pity and fear (Catharsis) happens in the play leading it to be a tragedy in the Aristotelian sense of the term, though the norms of Unities of Time, Place and Action are not being followed strictly by Shakespeare. In spite of taking liberties with these norms, Shakespeare could create a masterpiece, something which is unique as is Macbeth.

Macbeth presents us a society where the codes of honor and loyalty are supreme. Even if we compare this play in today’s world we can clearly compare the situation. Even today the person who is powerful financially or politically is free to do anything. Their children can easily achieve their ideas and ambitions. Money is buying ambitions the true deserving candidates are lacking behind as they don't have power. Even today we hear of cases where people use power to gain what they want, still murders take place to gain ambition. We can take example of Adolf Hitlor and his dictatorship in this context.

Macbeth is a highly notable and unique play because it is the only tragedy that Shakespeare wrote where the protagonist is also the villain.

Thank you for the visit. I have tried to clear the the tragedy of ambition if you feel it needs changes or have some changes do comment.

[words count- 1866]

William Cowper

 Hello visitors! This blog is written as a thinking activity under the topic of Neo- Classical age, we were asked to answer two questions out of four and I have written on Write in brief about your favorite major/minor writer of the age And in brief about your favorite work from the Neoclassical Age.

"There is a pleasure in poetic pains

Which only poets know."

William Cowper  was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry. Samuel Taylor Coleridge called him "the best modern poet". He recovered from the attack of insanity and wrote more religious hymns. His religious sentiment and association with John Newton led to much of the poetry for which he is best remembered, and to the series of Olney Hymns. He also wrote a number of anti-slavery poems and his friendship with Newton, who was an avid anti-slavery campaigner, resulted in Cowper being asked to write in support of the Abolitionist campaign.

Cowper was born on 26 November 1731 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. His father John Cowper was rector of the Church of St Peter. His father's sister was the English poet Judith Madan. His mother was Ann née Donne. He and his brother John were the only two of seven children to live past infancy. Ann died giving birth to John. His mother’s death at such an early age troubled William deeply.

Cowper was first enrolled in Westminster School in April of 1742, He had begun to study Latin from a young age, and was an eager scholar of Latin for the rest of his life. Older children bullied Cowper through many of his younger years. He read through the Iliad and the Odyssey, which ignited his lifelong scholarship and love for Homer’s epics. He grew skilled at the interpretation and translation of Latin, which he put to use for the rest of his life. He was skilled in the composition of Latin as well and wrote many verses of his own. 

Later he started training for a career in law. During this time, he spent his leisure time at the home of his uncle where he fell in love with his cousin Theodora, whom he wished to marry. But her father refused to accede to the wishes of his daughter and nephew. This refusal left Cowper distraught. He suffered his first severe attack of depression/mental illness, referred to at the time as melancholy.

In 1763 he was offered a Clerkship of Journals in the House of Lords, but broke under the strain of the approaching examination; he experienced a period of depression and insanity. At this time he tried three times to commit suicide and was sent to Nathaniel Cotton's asylum at St. Albans for recovery. His poem beginning "Hatred and vengeance, my eternal portions" was written in the aftermath of his suicide attempt.

After recovering, he settled at Huntingdon with a retired clergyman named Morley Unwin and his wife Mary. Cowper grew to be on such good terms with the Unwin family that he went to live in their house, and moved with them to Olney. There he met curate John Newton (a former captain of slave ships) who had devoted his life to the gospel. Not long afterwards, Morley Unwin was killed in a fall from his horse; Cowper continued to live in the Unwin home and became greatly attached to the widow Mary Unwin. At Olney, Newton invited Cowper to contribute to a hymnbook that he was compiling. The resulting volume, known as Olney Hymns, was not published until 1779

In 1773, Cowper experienced an attack of insanity, imagining not only that he was eternally condemned to hell, but that God was commanding him to make a sacrifice of his own life. Mary Unwin took care of him with great devotion, and after a year he began to recover. In 1779, after Newton had moved from Olney to London, Cowper started to write poetry again. Mary Unwin, wanting to keep Cowper's mind occupied, suggested that he write on the subject of The Progress of Error. After writing a satire of this name, he wrote seven others. These poems were collected and published in 1782 under the title Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq.

His mother’s death at such an early age troubled William deeply and was the subject of his poem, "On the Receipt of My Mother's Picture", written more than fifty years later.

In 1781 Cowper met a sophisticated and charming widow named Lady Austen who inspired new poetry - ‘The Task’. In the same volume Cowper also printed "The Diverting History of John Gilpin", a notable piece of comic verse. 

Cowper and Mary Unwin moved to Weston Underwood, Buckinghamshire, in 1786, having become close with his cousin Lady Harriett Hesketh (Theodora's sister). During this period he started his translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey into blank verse. His versions (published in 1791) were the most significant English renderings of these epic poems since those of Alexander Pope earlier in the century. Mary Unwin died in 1796, plunging Cowper into a gloom from which he never fully recovered.

He did continue to revise his Homer for a second edition of his translation. Aside from writing the powerful and bleak poem, "The Castaway", he penned some English translations of Greek verse and translated some of the Fables of John Gay into Latin.

He also wrote a number of anti-slavery poems and his friendship with Newton, who was an avid anti-slavery campaigner, resulted in Cowper being asked to write in support of the Abolitionist campaign.

Cowper was seized with dropsy in the spring of 1800 and died. He is buried in the chapel of St Thomas of Canterbury, St Nicholas's Church in East Dereham, and a stained-glass window there commemorates his life.

THE  TASK

The Task was an outrageous and bold publication of its time. As a White man, his outspoken support for the Blacks and criticism of the slave trade at its height was a scandalous move in English society. It’s a must read for everyone interested in the history of slavery and Abolitionist movement all over the world. The poem is a meditative one and is divided into six different books, each dealing with a different subject. 

Cowper prefaced The Task with an account of its genesis:

"A lady, fond of blank verse, demanded a poem of that kind from the Author, and gave him the SOFA for a subject. He obeyed; and, having much leisure, connected another subject with it; and, pursuing the train of thought to which his situation and turn of mind led him, brought forth at length, instead of the trifle which he at first intended, a serious affair "– a Volume.

Lady Austen, a friend of Cowper's in the early 1780s, made this suggestion in the early summer of 1783, and he took the idea up

The Task: A Poem in Six Books is a poem in blank verse by William Cowper published in 1785, usually seen as his supreme achievement. Its six books are called "The Sofa", "The Timepiece", "The Garden", "The Winter Evening", "The Winter Morning Walk" and "The Winter Walk at Noon". Beginning with a mock-Miltonic passage on the origins of the sofa, it develops into a discursive meditation on the blessings of nature, the retired life and religious faith, with attacks on slavery, blood sports, fashionable frivolity, lukewarm clergy and French despotism among other things.

...my raptures are not conjur'd up

To serve occasions of poetic pomp,

But genuine...

— Book 1, lines 151-53

The first book is entitled "The Sofa" and in its introduction, the narrator claims that this poem was created when one of the author's friends challenged him to write a poem using a sofa as the inspiration. The simple objects began a meditative process inside the narrator's mind on the true meaning of life. The narrator presents in the first part of this book the ideal image of family life, protected and idyllic. The image then changes slowly and as the narrator approaches the sofa, life becomes harder and new challenges appear.

The poem ends with death after a long and miserable existence. The narrator tries to warn the reader to avoid an attitude characterized by folly and to never forget that one day, he will die as well and everything he worked for will be lost forever.

The second book "The Timepiece" is similar to the first one in the sense it is also a meditation on life. This time, the narrator is isolated and alone, living in the middle of the wilderness. The reason for his isolation is soon revealed and is identified as the inability to accept the horrors which take place in the world on a day to day basis. The narrator is unable to accept them and as such has to live isolated.

The main idea transmitted through this second part is that those who are different and who care about the world around them will never find happiness. They will forever be cursed to be strangers in a world unable to understand them and to help them fit in. This perpetual suffering can end only in death, described here as a peaceful passing to a realm filled with happiness and joy.

The third book, "The Garden", is a meditation on the beauty and purity of nature. The natural wonders the narrator experiences while taking a walk are compared to the destruction humans caused. Nature is described as the only place when one person can truly find happiness and feel close to the Creator. Because of this, the narrator urges his readers to try and take notice of the world around them and to try and protect it as much as they can, living alongside it rather than trying to subdue it.

The last two books deal with the same subject, namely silence and its value. The action in both cases takes place in the middle of the winter when everyone is sitting inside their warm homes and the outside world presents itself to the onlooker in all its glory. This time is identified as being ideal for deep meditation since a person could spend hours upon hours thinking about the world and the meaning of life.

It’s influence is seen in a letter Robert Burns wrote,

"Isn't The Task a glorious poem? The religion of The Task, beating a few scraps of Calvinistic divinity, is the religion of God and Nature: the religion that exalts, that ennobles man."

He is said to have loved the poem enough to have habitually walked about with a copy in his pocket. The poem is extensively quoted in the novels of Jane Austen, and has been seen as deeply influential on her.

These are my answers to the questions given, if you find any changes or improvement please write in comment. Thank you for visiting.

William cowper from Jheel Barad

Literature of Puritan age

 Literature of the Puritan Age - Poetry

In the literature of the puritan Age the common themes literature included were religious and political idealism. There were no fixed literary standards, imitations of older poets and exaggeration of the poets replaced the original, dignified and highly imaginative compositions of the Elizabethan writers. The literature produced in this age was not of higher order so this period is also known as gloomy age

The poetry writers of the puritan age can be divided into four parts:

1. Transition poets

2. Spenserian  Poets

3. Metaphysical poets

4. Cavalier Poets

Transition Poets	James Thomson (1700-1748) Thomas Gray (1716-71) William Collins (1721-1759) Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) William Cowper (1731-1800)
Spenserian Poets	Samuel Daniel (1562- 1619) Giles Fletcher (1588- 1623) George Wither (1588-1667)
Metaphysical Poets	John Donne (1573- 1631) George Herbert (1593- 1633)
Cavalier Poets	Thomas Carew (1589? - 1639?) Robert Herrick (1591- 1674) Sir john Suckling (1609-1642) Sir Richard Lovelace (1618- 1658) John Milton (1608- 1674)

The Transition Poets:

Starting with the literal meaning of transition, transition means the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another.

At the beginning of bewildering confusion of ideals expressed in literature, we note a few writers who are generally known as Jacobean poets, but whom we have called the Transition poets because, with the later dramatists, they show clearly the changing standards of the age.There were few 18th century poets who showed some elements of Romanticism while not completely ignored the old conventions. These poets were caught in the middle of neoclassical writing and the Romantic Age, are known as the Transitional poets.

Characteristics of transitional poets:

• Transitional Poets were tired of Neoclassical ideals of Reason and Wit.

• These transitional Poets find a midway, they dropped conventional poetic diction and forms in favour of freer forms and bolder language.

• They preached a Return to Nature.

• The poets returned to real Nature and not to the bookish nature of the artificial pastoral.

• The age of Transition was an era of innovation and varied experiment. The poets of this time believed in individual poetic inspiration.

• Passion, Emotion and Imagination was valued by them.

• Their poetry is no longer ‘Drawing Room Poetry.’ They don’t limit their attention to urban life and manners.

• Their poetry became much more subjective.

• There was a strong revolt against the heroic couplet as the only eligible verse unit.

• They show a much greater interest in the middle ages that Dryden and Pope had neglected. 

Spenserian Poets:

The poets whose works relate to the Spenserian poets in terms of style or characteristics are known as Spenserian Poets. Spenserian poets Giles Fletcher and George Wither are worth Reading.

Giles Fletcher (1588?-1623)- Fletcher was the younger son of Giles Fletcher the Elder (Ambassador to Russia of Elizabeth I). His principal work has the full title 'Christ's Victore and Triumph', in Heaven, in Earth, over and after Death, and consists of four cantos. The first canto, Christ's Victory in Heaven, represents a dispute in heaven between justice and mercy, using the facts of Christ's life on earth; the second, Christ's Victory on Earth, deals with an allegorical account of Christ's Temptation; the third, Christ's Triumph over Death, covers the Passion; and the fourth, Christ's Triumph after Death, covering the Resurrection and Ascension, ends with an affectionate eulogy of his brother Phineas as Thyrsis's. The meter is an eight-line stanza in the style of Spenser; the first five lines have the rhyme Scheme ABABB, and the stanza concludes with a rhyming triplet.

George Wither (1588-1667)- The life of George Wither  covers the whole period of English history from Elizabeth to the Restoration, and the enormous volume of his work covers every phase of the literature of two great ages. Students of this period find him interesting as an epitome of the whole age in which he lived; but the average reader is more inclined to note with interest that he published in 1623 Hymns and Songs of the Church, the first hymn book that ever appeared in the English language. 

Metaphysical Poets:

The metaphysical poets followed the lead of Donne. He imitated Horace by writing, like him, satires, elegies, epistles and complimentary verses. But though his verse possess classical dignity and good sense, it does not have its grace and ease Highly intellectualized poetry marked by bold and ingenious conceits (figure of speech), incongruous (not in harmony, inappropriate) imagery, complexity and subtlety of thought, frequent use of paradox (puzzle), and often by deliberate harshness or rigidity of expression. The term Metaphysical poets was coined by the critic Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of 17th-century English poets whose work was characterised by the inventive use of conceits, and by a greater emphasis on the spoken rather than lyrical quality of their verse. 

Samuel Daniel (1562- 1619)- Daniel, who is often classed with the first Metaphysical poets, is interesting to us for two reasons,--for his use of the artificial sonnet, and for his literary desertion of Spenser as a model for poets. His Delia, a cycle of sonnets modeled, perhaps, after Sidney's Astrophel and Stella, helped to fix the custom of celebrating love or friendship by a series of sonnets, to which some pastoral pseudonym was affixed. Daniel's poetry, which was forgotten soon after his death, has received probably more homage than it deserves in the praises of Wordsworth, Southey, Lamb, and Coleridge. The style and language are just such as any pure and manly writer of the present day would use. It seems quite modern in comparison with the style of Shakespeare. 

We can consider here only Donne and Herbert, who in different ways are the types of revolt against earlier forms and standards of poetry. In feeling and imagery both are poets of a high order, but in style and expression they are the leaders of the fantastic school whose influence largely dominated poetry during the half century of the Puritan period.

John Donne (1573-1631)- The metaphysical poets were eclipsed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by romantic and Victorian poets, but twentieth-century readers and scholars, seeing in the metaphysicals an attempt to understand pressing political and scientific upheavals, engaged them with renewed interest. Another important theme in Donne's poetry is the idea of true religion, something that he spent much time considering and about which he often theorised. He wrote secular poems as well as erotic and love poems. He is particularly famous for his mastery of metaphysical conceits. Donne threw style and all literary standards to the winds; and precisely for this reason he is forgotten, though his great intellect and his genius had marked him as one of those who should do things "worthy to be remembered." 

George Herbert (1593-1633)- George Herbert is known as the metaphysical poet by virtue of his faith in God and religion. His poetry is a record of strivings, failures and victories in the practice of the Christian life.  Professor Palmer, calls Herbert the first in English poetry who spoke face to face with God. That may be true; but it is interesting to note that not a poet of the first half of the seventeenth century, not even the gayest of the Cavaliers, but has written some noble verse of prayer or aspiration, which expresses the underlying Puritan spirit of his age. Herbert is the greatest, the most consistent of them all. In all the others the Puritan struggles against the Cavalier, or the Cavalier breaks loose from the restraining Puritan; but in Herbert the struggle is past and peace has come. Those who seek for faults, for strained imagery and fantastic verse forms in Herbert's poetry, will find them in abundance; but it will better repay the reader to look for the deep thought and fine feeling that are hidden in these wonderful religious lyrics, even in those that appear most artificial. The fact that Herbert's reputation was greater, at times, than Milton's, and that his poems when published after his death had a large sale and influence, shows certainly that he appealed to the men of his age; and his poems will probably be read and appreciated, if only by the few, just so long as men are strong enough to understand the Puritan's spiritual convictions.

Herbert's chief work, The Temple, consists of over one hundred and fifty short poems suggested by the Church, her holidays and ceremonials, and the experiences of the Christian life. The first poem, "The Church Porch," is the longest.Among the remaining poems of The Temple one of the most suggestive is "The Pilgrimage.”

Cavalier Poets:

Cavalier is a supporter of King Charles I in the English Civil War/ Royalist. The cavalier poets was a school of English poets of the 17th century that came from the classes that supported King Charles I during the English Civil War (1642–1651).The cavalier poets followed Ben Jonson. Like the ‘metaphysical’, the label ‘Cavalier’ is not correct, because a ‘Cavalier’ means a royalist—one who fought on the side of the king during the Civil War. All the followers of Ben Jonson were not all royalists, but this label once used has stuck to them. Poets of both the schools, of course, turned away from the long, Old-fashioned works of the Spenserians, and concentrated their efforts on short poems and lyrics dealing with the themes of love of woman and the love or fear of God. The Cavalier poets normally wrote about trivial subjects, while the Metaphysical poets wrote generally about serious subjects.Charles, an expert judge of the fine arts, supported poets who created the art he craved. These poets in turn grouped themselves with the King and his service, thus becoming Cavalier Poets.Some of the most prominent Cavalier poets were Thomas Carew, Richard Lovelace, Robert Herrick, and John Suckling. They emulated Ben Jonson, a contemporary of Shakespeare. These poets opposed metaphysical poetry, such as that of John Donne.

While poets like John Donne wrote with a spiritual, scientific, and moral focus, the Cavalier poets concentrated on the pleasures of the moment. Metaphysical poets also wrote in figurative, lofty language, while the Cavaliers were simple, being more apt to say what they meant in clear terms. The Cavalier poet wrote short, refined verses, and the tone of Cavalier poetry was generally easy-going.

• The Cavalier poets wrote short lyrical poems but did not like sonnets.

• Cavalier lyricists did not write as professionals for publicity. They wrote carelessly and their poetry was immature.

• They avoided the subject of religion, apart from making one or two graceful speeches.

• They avoided discovering the depths of the soul.

• Cavalier poetry’s main thematic concern is pleasure. Many poems favour living in moments and are often erotic in nature. Moreover, as Cavalier poets were aristocrats, Cavalier poetry focuses on the cultural life that aristocrats led.

• The tone of Cavalier poetry is light. It focuses on eroticism and matters of culture. Cavalier poetry is often written from the perspective of a military or aristocratic person, giving it a graceful flair.

Thomas Carew (1598?- 1639?):  Carew may be called the inventor of Cavalier love poetry due the peculiar combination of the sensual and the religious which marked most of the minor poets of the seventeenth century. His poetry is the Spenserian pastoral stripped of its refinement of feeling and made direct, coarse, vigorous. His poems, published in 1640, are like his life, trivial or sensual. His two volumes of poems are “Noble Numbers” & “Hesperides”. Both are collections of short poems.

Robert Herbrick (1591- 1674): Herrick is the true Cavalier, With admirable good nature, Herrick made the best of these uncongenial surroundings. He watched with sympathy the country life about him and caught its spirit in many lyrics, a few of which, like "Corinna's Maying," "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may," and "To Daffodils," are among the best known in our language.He was a reputed wit of his times. He was known as the courtly & polished love poet. Only the best of his poems should be read,The rest, since they reflect something of the coarseness of his audience, may be passed over in silence.

John Suckling (1609- 1642): He was one of the most brilliant wits of the court of Charles I, who wrote poetry as he exercised a horse or fought a duel, because it was considered a gentleman's accomplishment in those days. His poems, "struck from his wild life like sparks from his rapier," are utterly trivial, and, even in his best known "Ballad Upon a Wedding," rarely rise above mere doggerel. He ruined himself in the royalist cause. He was rich, brilliant & witty. His best-known poem is “Why so pale & wan fond lover?”

Sir Richard Lovelace (1618 -1658): Like Suckling, he was also rich & brilliant & ruined himself in the royalist cause. The two are often classed together as perfect representatives of the followers of King Charles. Lovelace's Lucasta, a volume of love lyrics, is generally on a higher plane than Suckling's work; and a few of the poems like "To Lucasta," and "To Althea, from Prison," 

It is a youtube video explaining the same topic hope it might be helpful.

[Words count- 2167]

Here I have tried to simplify the understanding of 4 different classes of poetry, if you  find any corrections or changes please write in the comment box.